The Flowers died on Monday

The hospital room was too bright for his comfort, there was nothing he could do about it.
It was in the middle of day, or so he thought. Why else would the light be that way anyway, right?
He stood near the bed, holding onto the railing of it and staring at a face he once held and kissed every morning. Now he did not know if he should. To his right, there stood a simple nightstand...plastic..or cheap wood. Jack, for once, could not care less.
What he did care about, were the flowers that stood on it.
A simple bouquet of flowers, a mix of daisies,roses and some stubborn yellow blooms he never learned the name of. He made sure there was always a fresh bundle of flowers right next to him.
He made sure to replace them every other day.
There were lots of noises around them otherwise, from monitors constantly beeping to voices of nurses hushing conditions and data to quick footsteps outside of the room rushing along the hall into different quarters.

He gently reached out to the hand of the man lying in the bed and took it into his, letting his thumb run over his knuckles. „You know" he began, squeezing the man's hand a tad tighter.
„You'd be grinning at me right now" he huffs „..telling me how I should stop worrying about you already". He spoke as if speaking from memory. His gaze shifted from the mans face, to the far left window of the room.
„You'd tell me—" a sharp inhale broke his sentence in half and his gaze found his way back to his face. It looked so carefree in this moment. „You'd tell me, everything's gonna be alright." There was nothing but stubborn certainty in his voice now,
even though his eyes told a completely different story.

He smushed the mans hand against his cheek,
Kissing along the inner palm towards the steady pulse point of his partner.
Crystal clear tears started to form in the corners of his eyes, rolling down and getting absorbed by the pale skin of no other than his lover.
„I know you'll get better" he mouthed.
„You have to."
At this point it wasn't just certainty anymore,
it was more like a command.
He held onto that hope like a child clutching a stuffed animal in the dark.

And it all used to be so easy..
They used to be a simple couple, well as simple as the two of them could be together. But at least they were happy. So..so happy.

The morning it all went down was like any other morning. They had breakfast and coffee together, leaning into each-others space, pressing soft kisses to the others face and muttering confessions. Even after so many years, they still expressed their love to each other like newly wedded men.
„You know, I don't have to go if you don't want me too" Cas said while letting his slim fingers run through the graying curls of his partner before letting it settle against his cheek. „You should go." Jack responded as he leaned into the touch, lifting his hand and placing it above the other resting on his cheek. „You would regret it if you don't." He guided Cas's hand to his lips and kissed his palm. „You don't know what today might bring and you.." he took a deep breath before speaking again. „You don't know if you'll ever get the chance again.". He simply stated. It was true of course.

Cas's health has his ups and downs due to a chronic illness he carries with him at all times since he was born. Cas smiled softly at what Jack had said. „You worry too much." he response, the same soft smile staying, as if he knew things were gonna be okay.
He couldn't know. He never could. Nonetheless Cas stayed optimistic, that today was gonna be a good day.
„I worry the appropriate amount." Jack bantered back but there was also a certain seriousness behind his words. „Alright.." he says with a sigh. „But you text me every hour or so, doesn't have to be a big message..just a little text so that I know you are okay, alright?" Jack's face was all serious now, yet Cas kept that light banter up.
„Yes Sir~." Jack just rolled his eyes and a sly smirk appeared on his face. „Don't call me that."—
„Then don't act like one" Cas tilted his head, still playfully.
„Come here." he hushed, wrapping his arms around Jack's neck, his fingers curling into his hair and pulling him close.
„I'll text you..-" their noses brush lightly against the other.
„I'll even send you some pictures, if you don't mind".
Jack only hummed in response, already leaning in til their lips meet for a short but intimate kiss. It felt like everything, even tho it was such a small gesture. „I'd like that."
They were both smiling by now. „I will see you later, okay?"
And shortly after that, they say their goodbyes, kiss the other and head out for the day.

If they'd only known, that this would come to be the worst day of their life's.

Only in a matter of a few hours.

The festival was loud, music coming in from all sides, booming. Laughing and dancing people were everywhere.
This wasn't Cas's usual surroundings, but he didn't mind. His Best-friend was right by his side.
She had asked Cas a week in advance even though she knows that Cas isn't a man who does those things. She still asked. And he said yes nonetheless.

Surprisingly Cas was having a good time, the music was decent, everyone was having fun and the drinks weren't so bad..although on second thought..yes they kind of were.

This had been a good idea, a good choice.

It was a good day

His best-friend was saying something about a cute guy when a weird sound suddenly cracked through the air.

Cas flinched. Some people turned around, some didn't.
„Fireworks?" A strangers voice guessed.

Another crack

Somewhere, someone laughed because the music didn't stop. Like nothing had changed.

But something clearly had changed

Another crack echoed like thunder.

The sound was louder than the music now—

People stopped laughing, someone shoved past.
„Hey—what's going on—?"

Then the screaming started.

Another crack shot through the air, too sharp. Nothing like fireworks, definitely not-
Somewhere behind him- more sounds, quicker now, one after the other.

Something in the crowd shifted.

People weren't laughing anymore, they were moving now. Faster. Not wandering, not dancing.
But Running.
Pushing, shoving everyone out of their field, not really caring if one got trampled over.

Cas took a step back.—then another, until someone slammed into his shoulder. Knocking him off balance, his drink slipped and spilled cold across his fingers.

„Sorry—so so sorry" someone fumbled, they were already gone the next second.

Cas's breath hitched, his heart was beating too fast, pounding up into his throat.

Jack

This wasn't supposed to happen. Not today—
Why today?

A hand grabbed his arm, yanking him sideways. Cas stumbled, barely staying up at his own feet.

„Move-! C'mon!"

„I can't—"

Noises started mixing together, voices, screams, those awful cracks that shot through the sky every few seconds, feet hitting the ground fast.
„You gotta move man!"

Cas stumbled again,
his foot caught on something..or someone-—and he lurched forward, barely catching himself.

For a second it all blurred together
Cas blinked hard, trying to focus on what was happening in front of him.

He took one step.

Then another.

His legs didn't feel right.

A strange numbness crept in, distant and wrong.

He frowned slightly, glancing down as he moved again, slower this time, unsteady.

Something warm brushed against his fingers.

Wet.

For just a second, he couldn't make sense of it.

Had he dropped his drink?
He didn't remember—
It must've been the drink..—

The ground came up way too quickly after that,

He met it in an instant,

Hard.

The world tilted, then stilled
For a moment, he just lay there, staring up at the sky, lights burning bright above him

I should move

C'mon, move..you got this

His chest rose unevenly, breath catching, stuttering, like his body had forgotten how.

Cas blinked slowly.

Jack would be worrying.—
The thought came dimly, slipping through the noise of everything around him.

I should tell him—

I'm okay

But even as he tried reaching for his phone.
His arms would not cooperate.

They felt heavy, too heavy.

The lights above him blurred, smearing into streaks and disappearing at the edges of his vision.

The noise faded, dulling.

And slowly— so agonizingly slowly

everything slipped away.

Now Jack was standing next to the hospital bed, holding on to the railing while staring at nothing in particular.The room seemed...dull, kind of like all the color was being drained from it.
The sheets seemed too white, the nightstand next to the bed seemed too clean, too sterile. Even the sun shining through the window felt wrong somehow. „I knew letting you leave that day was a bad decision.."
„If I had only known—"
Known that it would've ended that way.
„I should've been there with you...should've taken the day off for you...maybe then—"

Maybe then he could have prevented this from happening.

At least, that was what Jack told himself. Technically he knew that even if he were there...there were too many variables he would've had to see coming.
And that was surely impossible.
It gnawed at him anyways.
By now Jack had sat down on the bed, shoulders slumped, head down. Hands resting motionless in his lap.
He hadn't really noticed that the flowers on the nightstand had wilted.
Probably a couple weeks ago by the looks of it. Most petals were completely shriveled up, colors dulled, and had fallen down and were now slowly turning to dust right then and there.

He had not changed them in two weeks.
And when he looked up from where he was staring at his own hands before.
„Oh.."
As though he had only really noticed the flowers that very moment.
He stared at them.
The way the petals lay there, crumbled, alone. Fading.
„I will get you new ones tomorrow."
He mumbled. „You always liked when I brought you flowers,..right?" He asked but no one answered. „It was our special language.."
„Tulips meant I thought about you a lot...Daisies simply stood for „home"..., orchids stood for „I'm sorry" and Roses..well isn't that the most obvious one?" He smiled at the memory of Casper's reaction every time Jack had brought him flowers.

„Love..affection, admiration..every word under the sun that stood for how much I loved you.."

„Without needing to say it out loud.."

Jack chuckled at his own words a little..but it came out rather tired and raspy than happy. „You knew I had trouble with that..and instead of living with it,..or forcing me..-" he quickly added „you simply invented our own little code of flowers"

„Like it wasn't a problem at all..just something we built around and made it work somehow—
and we did..we really did."

Jack's voice fell quite after that.

The room stayed silent.

No sleepy hum.
No soft smile.
No hand reaching for his.

Just silence.

Jack's eyes drifted back to the flowers on the table, brown edges curled inward where the petals had dried up days ago.

„I forgot to replace them.."

He said under his breath, a little confused with himself.

Because he always replaced them.

Before the water turned cloudy
Before the petals changed color
Before they fell..
Before they died..

Jack stared at them a moment longer

„My flower had died on Monday."